Various different flowmeters are used in industry to provide information about the flow rate of multiphase fluids. The fluids that are metered can include mixtures of liquids and gases. This situation is commonly encountered in the oil and gas industry, where the fluids produced are commonly a mixture of oil, water, and gas. However, the need to meter multiphase fluids also occurs in other industries as well.
One type of flowmeter is a Coriolis flowmeter. A Coriolis flowmeter includes an electronic transmitter and a vibratable flowtube through which fluid to be metered can be passed. The transmitter maintains flowtube vibration by sending a drive signal to one or more drivers and performs measurement calculations based on signals from a pair of sensors that measure movement of the flowtube. The physics of the device dictate that Coriolis forces act along a section of the flowtube between the sensors, resulting in a phase difference between the generally sinusoidal sensor signals. This phase difference is generally proportional to the mass flow rate of the fluid passing through the measurement section of the flowtube. Thus, the phase difference provides a basis for a mass flow measurement of fluid flowing through the flowtube. The frequency of oscillation of the flowtube of a Coriolis meter varies with the density of the process fluid in the flowtube. The frequency value can be extracted from the sensor signals (for example by calculating the time delay between consecutive zero crossings) so that the density of the fluid can also be obtained by analyzing the sensor signals.
Coriolis meters are widely used throughout various different industries. The direct measurement of mass flow is frequently preferred over volumetric-based metering, for whereas the density and/or volume of a material may vary with temperature and/or pressure, mass is unaffected. This is particularly important in the oil and gas industry, where energy content and hence product value is a function of mass. The term ‘Net Oil’ is used in the oil and gas industry to describe the oil flow rate within a three-phase or a liquid (oil/water) stream. A common objective in the oil and gas industry is to determine the net oil produced by each well in a plurality of wells because this information can be important when making decisions affecting production from an oil and gas field and/or for optimizing production from an oil and gas field.
The inclusion of gas in a liquid stream introduces errors in the mass flow and density measurements of a Coriolis meter. Laboratory trials can be used to characterize how mass flow rate and density errors relate to other parameters, such as the observed flow rate and observed reduction in density from that of the pure fluid. These trials can be used to develop empirical models that provide corrections to account for some of the error associated with the presence of multiphase fluids including gas and liquid phases. These empirically-based corrections can result in improved performance of Coriolis meters in field operations. Additional details concerning use of a Coriolis meter to meter multiphase fluids are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,311,136; 6,505,519; 6,950,760; 7,059,199; 7,313,488; 7,617,055; and 8,892,371, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present inventors have made various improvements, which will be described in detail below, applicable to the field of Coriolis flowmeters and applicable to the field of net oil and gas testing.